Sociodemographic and psychopathological features of frequent attenders in Primary Care.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of frequent attenders and compare them with another group of routine attenders in three primary care centers. METHOD: The sample is composed by 232 frequent attenders (defined by number of consultations in the last year of 12 or more) and 93 routine attenders. The instruments used are: a questionnaire for the evaluation of the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and the 28-item Goldberg General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28). RESULTS: The logistic regression shows that increase of age, low level of education, presence of chronic disease, psychiatric diagnosis and presence of psychopathological <> symptomatology establish significant differences in the group of frequent attenders in relation to the routine attenders group. There are no significant differences between men and women. CONCLUSION: Frequent attenders present higher rates of physical, mental and social complaints. Age, some chronic conditions and psychopathology are the most important factors for frequent attendance.

Características sociodemográficas y psicopatológicas del paciente hiperfrecuentados en atención primaria / Sociodemographic and psychopathological features of frequent attenders in Primary Care

Objetivo. Determinar las características sociodemográficas, clínicas y psicopatológicas de un grupo de pacientes hiperfrecuentadores comparándolo con otro grupo de normofrecuentadores en tres centros de atención primaria. Método. La muestra está compuesta por 232 hiperfrecuentadores (definidos por un número de consultas igual o superior a 12 en el último año) y 93 normofrecuentadores. Los instrumentos utilizados son: un cuestionario de elaboración propia para la evaluación de las características sociodemográficas y clínicas y el Cuestionario de Salud General de Goldberg en su versión de 28 ítems (GHQ-28).Resultados. La regresión logística muestra que el aumento de edad, un nivel educativo bajo, la presencia de enfermedad crónica (diabetes e hipertensión), un diagnóstico psiquiátrico y presencia de sintomatología psicopatológica «menor» establecen diferencias significativas en el grupo de hiperfrecuentadores frente al grupo de normofrecuentadores. No existen diferencias significativas entre hombres y mujeres. Conclusión. Los pacientes hiperfrecuentadores presentan altas tasas de quejas físicas, mentales y sociales. La edad, determinadas enfermedades crónicas y la psicopatología son los factores más importantes en relación a la hiperfrecuentación (AU)

Objective. To determine the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of frequent attenders and compare them with another group of routine attenders in three primary care centers. Method. The sample is composed by 232 frequent attenders (defined by number of consultations in the last year of 12 or more) and 93 routine attenders. The instruments used are: a questionnaire for the evaluation of the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and the 28-item Goldberg General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28).Results. The logistic regression shows that increase of age, low level of education, presence of chronic disease, psychiatric diagnosis and presence of psychopathological «minor» symptomatology establish significant differences in the group of frequent attenders in relation to the routine attenders group. There are no significant differences between men and women. Conclusion. Frequent attenders present higher rates of physical, mental and social complaints. Age, some chronic conditions and psychopathology are the most important factors for frequent attendance (AU)